Parshas Bereishis
Genesis and Life
The first book of the Torah is a perplexing compilation of stories about
people. No apparent master plan or blueprint of morality is readily
discernable from its contents. It does not prescribe a set of rules to
live by, there are no "Ten Commandments" within its pages, it is almost
completely devoid of mitzvot - divine ritual commandments - and the
narrative details of the lives of its heroes are incomplete and sometimes
cryptic. As such, who needs the book? What does it come to teach us? What
is its purpose? Rashi raises all of these questions in the opening
paragraph to his immortal commentary on Torah. "Said Rabbi Yitzchak: The
Torah should have begun from the first commandment regarding the mitzvah
of the New Moon!" Rashi presents the answer that the Torah begins with
creation in order to impress upon us God's control over the world's events
and property and that He parcels out land to whomever He desires and has
assigned the Land of Israel to the people of Israel. But that does not
answer why all of the other narratives and stories appear in this holy
book. In fact, the entire book of Bereshit is an enigma. It tells us much
but not all about the founders of our people; it records historical events
that shape world civilization but does not really place them in a true
historical perspective; and it certainly reveals almost nothing to us
about the nature of the God of creation and Israel. So, again we ask: Why
the book?The first book of the Torah is a perplexing compilation of
stories about people. No apparent master plan or blueprint of morality is
readily discernable from its contents. It does not prescribe a set of
rules to live by, there are no "Ten Commandments" within its pages, it is
almost completely devoid of mitzvot - divine ritual commandments - and the
narrative details of the lives of its heroes are incomplete and sometimes
cryptic. As such, who needs the book? What does it come to teach us? What
is its purpose? Rashi raises all of these questions in the opening
paragraph to his immortal commentary on Torah.
My rabbinic teachers taught me over a half-century ago that the secret of
the entire book of Bereshit lay in the simple understanding of the
verse: "This is the book of the generations of mankind." The Torah does
not come to define God; it leaves that to the theologians. The Torah does
not explain creation; it leaves that to the astrophysicists and
geneticists. The Torah comes to direct, counsel, guide and strengthen each
and every individual human being in that person's journey through life and
its vicissitudes. Therefore, the Torah is devoted to personal detail about
people's lives. It tells of human heroism and greatness, as well as to
record the petty, violent and dark side of our nature. But most
importantly, it provides us with role models, real heroes who inspire and
challenge us to live up to our humanity and to the service of our Creator.
Each of the heroes, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, Rochel, Leah,
Yosef, Yehuda, etc., illustrates the unique path in life that a Torah
believer should follow. We become aware how to overcome adversity, how to
accept defeat and even tragedy, how to be positive in a negative society,
and how to be God-centered in an earth-bound mortal body.
It is no wonder that the rabbis of the Talmud demanded that Jews ask of
themselves: "When will my actions in life reach the level of faith and
performance of my original (Book of Bereshit) forbearers?" I may never be
able to achieve or accomplish what Avraham and Sarah did, but I am duty
bound to measure my goals and attitudes in life according to the goals and
standards that they established for their descendants- the people of
Israel, many millennia ago. And the establishment and explanation of those
attitudes and standards, as actually lived by these heroes, is the basic
message of the Book of Bereshit. In a world where standards and morality
change swiftly, where there are no fixed definitions of right and wrong
behavior, the example of the people of Bereshit remains vital, perhaps
even more vital than in previous eras. The evil people bring destruction
to civilization, no matter how enticing the momentary enjoyment of that
evil appears to society. The righteous person preserves all humanity and
brings eternal blessing to generations yet unborn. Therefore each of us
should write our own book of Bereshit, through our behavior, our loyalty
to Torah and its standards, our learning the lessons of the original book
of Bereshit. Then we will appreciate the true greatness of this first book
of the Torah.
Shabat Shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2004 by Rabbi Berel Wein and Torah.org
Visit www.rabbiwein.com for a complete selection of Rabbi Wein's books and tapes.
